Comments on: Will’s kakuro masterclass

By: Alessandra

Alessandra — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:36:51 +0000

Why is the number 4 so under-represented in kakuro puzzles? Try to count them, even in the Guardian puzzles there are always less than 10. Some mathematical reason?

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:07:44 +0000

The method of adding all the across minus all the down sums will only work on squares that will split/segment the puzzle into 2 smaller puzzles.

http://www.atksolutions.com/games/kakuro.html

By: No geek is an island » 2006’s top posts

No geek is an island » 2006’s top posts — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:23:32 +0000

[...] Shamelessly stolen from Stephen Tall as I see Google Analytics has been counting for me, here are the five most popular posts on this blog in 2006. Additional honourable mentions for my anal gig list (an anally-maintained list of musical gigs I’ve been to, let’s be clear), which would have made the top five were it a post, and Will’s kakuro masterclass, a perennial favourite from 2005 which remains the most popular post from the blog. [...]

By: janis

janis — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:43:50 +0000

hi,
i’m already a kakuro addict
i wanted to recommend a kakuro website to play online :
Play Kakuro

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 20:18:59 +0000

In Will’s example, you can work out the 1 in the lowest row by a direct method:

Add up the top two rows: total is 11 for the 5 squares. Add up all three columns: total is 12, which corresponds to all 6 squares. The difference, 12-11, must be the value in the square in the bottom row.

You don’t need this method for small puzzles but I think it can be useful in some larger puzzles. It works if you can find a region of the puzzle which is nearly isolated, ideally only being joined on to the rest of the puzzle by one face of one square.

For example in 11 Nov D.Tel (Kakuro #10) you can work out the top and bottom squares of the vertical 5-square line in the centre of the puzzle. The top square is 9, which you get as follows: (15+29+34+6) -(11+18+24+22) = 9

It’s a neat short-cut, for some puzzles.

Have fun.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 01:25:45 +0000

After reading your basic tips regarding the basic “building blocks”, it all starts to make some sense now.
Cheers mate.

By: wis

wis — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:39:14 +0000

Look at for more great kakuro puzzles

By: Will

Will — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 09:11:02 +0000

The 2×2 square on the right-hand side? I’ve had a quick go and ended up with the same

I do the one in G2 each day.

By: Shell

Shell — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 09:04:30 +0000

I saw one of these a few months back and laboured with it for ages (mind you it was in a ‘tough puzzles’ magazine. But now you point out the maxima and minima it all makes sense!

However, after high-tailing it to the Kakuro site the first one I try (No20) doesn’t seem to have a unique solution - the final 4 squares I’m left with can be solved in two ways

Anyway, regardless, it’s a nice upgrade from SuDoko which had been getting tired these past couple of months!

By: Alastair

Alastair — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 11:33:36 +0000

It’s not too perverted, and actually I think it’s a little more straightforward to solve than Sudoku when you get your head around it; in fact I really prefer them now.

I’ve been working on a Kakuro website, at http://www.kakuro-san.com with two graded puzzles every day, if you’re looking for more. It’s very new (went up today) so all feedback appreciated.

cheers,
Alastair